Saturday, February 18, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: The combined wealth of Malaysia’s 40 richest individuals declined this year as the global credit crisis and weak equity markets took a toll on them.

Malaysia’s 40 richest were collectively worth RM193.2bil as at Jan 20, 2012, a decrease of 7% compared to RM206.37bil a year ago, said Malaysian Business in its Feb 16 issue.

The local stock market remained lacklustre on the back of worries that the US economy may be heading for a double-dip recession and China for a hard landing as a result of the euro debt crisis, Malaysian Business said in a news release yesterday.

On the bright side, there were 30 billionaires this year – three more than last year.

Based on the value of stakes in listed companies as at Jan 20, Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok still tops the list at RM45.7bil despite an 8% drop in his fortunes.

T. Ananda Krishnan remains at second, narrowing the gap, however, with RM42.99bil. The tycoon’s wealth is down by about 6% this year.

Public Bank’s Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow remains third with a fortune that has remained relatively intact at RM12.64bil, a 1% decline from before.

Tiong’s wealth is estimated at RM6.41bil while Ong’s soared by 23% to RM4.92bil.

The three newcomers are Datuk A.K. Nathan of Eversendai Cor­poration Bhd and Ngau Boon Keat of Dialog Group Bhd, who both made it into the list for the first time, while Datuk Abdul Hamed Sepawi of Ta Ann Holdings Bhd returned after a lapse of four years.

Friday, February 17, 2012

BUTTERWORTH: Batu Kawan, once a rural swampland of oil palm estates, is set to become the next Bayan Lepas, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said. He said three major investments from Robert Bosch, Boon Siew Honda and VAT Manufacturing Malaysia totalling about RM10bil in Batu Kawan would have spillover effects on different sectors, including thousands of jobs for those living in the area.“At the same time, Batu Kawan will also have the country’s first integrated, streamlined and symmetrically designed affordable housing scheme.“We have engaged the world’s best in this field, Surbana International Consultants — the privatised building and development division of Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB),” he said before performing the ground breaking for the RM2.7bil Bandar Cassia Affordable Housing Scheme yesterday. On the state’s choice of the consultancy firm, Lim said the state’s investment arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC) did not want to copy or model its affordable houses after some of the world’s best designs but to appoint the best in the industry to help with the planning. Lim reiterated that the housing project, which would be given out to local contractors via an open tender, would be ideal for the middle-income earners. “We do not want our middle-income earners to live in boxes. That is why proper planning is vital so that they can live with pride and enjoy quality living through this scheme.“This eco-friendly designed project, on an 80ha plot of land, will have about 12,000 medium-cost housing units, three football fields, a man-made river and recreation parks,” he said. Lim said the freehold units, ranging from 800sq ft to 1,000sq ft, would be housed in high-rise buildings of between nine and 16 storeys. The units are priced at between RM72,500 and RM220,000 each with a free car parking lot. He said Surbana was committed to oversee the project’s progress throughout the scheduled 10-year development period over five phases with the Phase 1 expected to be ready by 2014.“The state government will undertake the maintenance and management of these housing units once completed.” He said the various projects would ‘create’ a population of about 250,000 residents.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

GEORGE TOWN: Come Jan 1, plastic bags will be practically banned state-wide.The move – an extension of the current “No Plastic Bag Day” in shopping centres and hypermarkets on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays – means that no plastic bags can be used every day by almost all business sectors.The ruling will cover all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores including petrol kiosks and chain stores.Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the move would reduce the state’s carbon footprint.“Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will have to adhere to the ruling on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in order to ensure the renewal of their licences.“Previously, they only had to adhere to the ruling on Mondays,” he said when tabling the 2011 Budget at the state legislative assembly yesterday.Lim’s two paragraph announcement on the wide-ranging plastic ban was buried inside his 27-page budget speech, apparently catching many by surprise.To promote the “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling, the state will distribute 500,000 brochures to create public awareness besides erecting educational billboards.On July 1, last year, Penang became the first state to implement a “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling in shopping complexes and hypermarkets every Monday, before it was extended to Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well from Jan 2.From July 1, 2009 to Oct 28, a total of 32.5 million plastic bags were saved under this campaign.Shoppers who did not bring their own reusable bags were charged 20 sen for each plastic bag when making purchases.The money collected from the sale of plastic bags went to the “Partners Against Poverty” Special Fund to help the state’s hardcore poor.Good Practice to save our world - I support.......

Located in the heart of Georgetown along Jalan Magazine, 1st Avenue Shopping Mall measures 655,000sqf in gross floor area and spreads over 7 retail levels.It’s a stylish city mall that offers fashion, leisure, entertainment and a slew of dining outlets for the style conscious urbanites living and working in Penang. 1st Avenue is the ideal venue for young executives looking for a comfortable lunch venue or wanting to organize social get-togethers, being easily accessible from all parts of the city.The main highlights in the mall include a youth-centered concept at the lower ground level named "Underground" and a lifestyle and entertainment enclave on Level 8 called "Cloud8".Underground is the first mall-in-mall concept in Penang targeted at the young and young-at-heart. Decorated to theme and bustling with energy and life, Underground comprises fashion & accessory outlets, quick-bite eateries and other retail shops catering to youth and pop culture.The leisure and entertainment focus of the mall, Cloud8 features a double volume glass curtain wall that allows a panoramic view over the city of Georgetown. This level houses a Cineplex, family karaoke and a myriad of dining choices as well as an iconic pavilion restaurant.

No Rattle; All HumGet behind the driver’s seat of a hybrid car, and start it up. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a conventional car. If you are in a Toyota or Ford hybrid (and some GM hybrids), the internal combustion engine (ICE) gets cranked up, only to shut down again once it gets warmed up. This can happen quickly, or in colder weather, might take several minutes. At this point, the electric motor is now online, while the ICE remains dormant until needed.The Toyota or Ford hybrid will stay in this all-electric mode until about 15 mph—or if you accelerate very slowly, all the way up to about 30 mph. At low speeds, the careful driver is effectively operating an electric car, with no gas being burned, and no exhaust spewed from the tailpipe. Pretty cool. The more spirited driver will cause the ICE to kick in at lower speeds.Unlike the Toyota and Ford hybrids, the engines in Honda’s hybrids warm up but don't shut down completely until the first deceleration to a stop. This “auto stop” mode—conventional vehicles are wasting gas and spewing emissions during idle, while the hybrid is silent and gas-free—goes away when you lift your foot off the brake pedal, shift into gear, or depress the gas pedal.Depending on how hard you step on the gas pedal, the car’s computer will determine how much power to draw from the ICE, and how much power to pull from the car’s electric motor. The dashboard shows you exactly when the electric “assist” is working. Each time the Honda hybrid driver moves forward and them comes to stop—unless the car is warming up or the air conditioning is cranked—the ICE shuts off completely. Once again, the car becomes eerily silent (unless you are cranking the tunes).

Digital Driveline For your entire ride, the computer will be calculating when to let the gasoline engine do all the work and how much of a boost it needs from the electric motor. Because of the intermittent (but powerful) assist from the electric motor, the gasoline engine can achieve basically the same performance as a conventional car even when it has a smaller, more efficient size. Why put a high-horsepower, high-consumption engine into a car, when most drivers never drag race?Meanwhile, back in the Toyota and Ford hybrids, when you step on the gas pedal, you are really controlling a pedal positioning device that tells the computer how fast you want to go, and the computer is once again making a lot of decisions about when to use the gas engine, when to go electric, or when to use a combination. The computer is, in fact, sending its signals to a gearbox, known as the power split device, which connects the gas engine and electric motors through a series of gears.

Battery Charge and DischargeYou probably understand the basics of how the gasoline engine is working, but where is the electric motor getting its juice? It’s actually drawing power from, or pumping power into, a set of nickel metal hydride batteries. The computer is performing a lot of magic by knowing when to reclaim excess energy when braking the wheels with the electric motor (which is now working like a generator). It also knows when to pass power from the battery to the electric motor for acceleration. The computer is monitoring the amount of charge in the batteries, making sure that they never charge more than 60 percent and never less than 40 percent of their capacity. In this way, automakers say, the batteries will last a couple hundred thousand miles.

Wrap It All UpCover this technology with an aerodynamic frame and you’ve got yourself a major boost in fuel efficiency and a big-time reduction in poisonous, global-warming-causing tailpipe emissions. It’s not science fiction. It’s technology available today, in more than a dozen different sizes, shapes, and degrees of electric hybrid-ness.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Time Square Mall in Penang opening soon- that is good news for penangites to shop during coming Chinese New Year. I am sure the traffic is congested along this road - Jalan Dato Kramat. Because people may park his car like above photo for dropping or fetching his friend or his family members.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Pacific Komtar Open for Business on 18-Dec-2008.Penangites got new place to shop and there is good news for Komtar to shine back its image like 10 years back. So that is good time for those worker who have taken force leave for shut down during Chritsmas holidays can go for shopping instead of going to travel outside country although the economic is recession and slow down. Besides that, Time Square is coming soon for opening. I also have to take force leave for shut down from 25 Dec to 4 Jan for my company. I have planned to go to Pacific Komtar and Time Square during Christmas and New year holidays. Then I will update more photos soon.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

January 200931 January: Chinese New Year Open House: Organised by the Penang Youth Clan Council, the Chinese NewYearOpen House is a time when the various clan houses of George Town open their doors to visitors. Streets such as Armenian Street, Cannon Street, Ah Quee Street, and parts of Chulia Street become pedestrian malls. Details call Penang Youth Clan Council, tel: +6016 489 8868

February 20092 February: Thaipusam: Hindu festival of purification, Thaipusam includes chariot procession through the streets of George Town in honor of Hindu deity Murugan. Details call the Penang Hindu Endowment Board, tel: +604 650 5215

8 February: Chap Goh Meh: Chinese Valentine's Day. It is celebrated on the 15th night of the Lunar New Year. Celebrations this year is planned at the Penang Chinese Town Hall at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling. Details call Penang Chinese Town Hall, tel: +604 261 7194

March 200913-15 March: iFOODex: The largest consumer food exhibition in Malaysia, happening at PISA. For details, contact Intrenasionale at +6012 483 2426

13-21 March:Penang International Food Festival: Indulge in the best of Penang local cuisine, happening at PISA, Batu Ferringhi and Esplanade. Details contact the Penang Tourism Action Council at +604 262 0202

May 20091-3 May: Penang World Music Festival: A place where music lovers can get to enjoy the music from different parts of the world. Happening at Quarry Garden of the Penang Botanic Garden. Details contact the Penang Tourism Action Council, tel: +604 262 0202

June 20094-7 June: Penang Turf Club Equestrian Centre Horse Show: An opportunity to view dressage, show jumping and carriage riding. There will also be an exhibition of the various types of horses and ponies. Organised by the Penang Turf Club. Details contact +604 229 3233

5-6 June: Penang X'Games: Events include Skateboarding, BMX and Inline Skating. Happening at the Penang Skate Park of the Municipal Park. Organized by the Penang Extreme Sports Club and MPPP. For details contact +604 226 2959

6-7 June: 29th Penang Dragon Boat Festival: Come watch the rowers from all over the world compete in this rowing competition. Details contact the organiser at +6019 445 5166

July 20091-31 July: Visit Penang Heritage Celebration: Commemorate the listing of George Town as a Unesco World Heritage Site with cultural performances, traditional crafts, demonstrations and exhibitions, happening at the heritage enclave. For details, contact the Penang State Government at +604 650 5136

3-5 July: MATTA Fair: A place to seek fabulous discounts for tours domestic as well as international. Happening at PISA, for details contact MATTA Penang Chapter at tel: +604 890 010611 July: Penang 3rd International Skimboarding Competition: Be dazzled by the best skimboarders in Asia and Australia. Happening at Bayu Senja Complex in Batu Ferringhi. For details, contact the Penang Skimboarding Association at +6012 403 5097

18 July: Bon Odori: The Japanese version of the Hungry Ghost Festival, this is a lively dance and drum performance to welcome home ancestral spirits. Happening at the Esplanade. For details, contact the Consulate-General of Japan at +604 226 3030

October 20093 October: Mid Autumn Festival: Lantern making competition, moon cakes, cultural and musicals are part of this festival. Happening at the Penang Chinese Town Hall Auditorium. Details contact the Penang Chinese Town Hall at +604 261 7194

November 200928 November: 16th International Dance Competition: Watch a dazzling dance sport event with dancers from around the world. Happening at PISA. For details, contact the Malaysian Dancers Association at +603 3168 6964

December 20091-31 December: Pesta Pulau Pinang: Month-long celebration with fun fair and trade exhibitions held at the Pesta Site, Sungai Nibong. Details contact the Penang State Government at +604 650 5136